Saint Mary's University

About: Saint Mary's University is a education organization based out in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Stars. The organization has 1931 authors who have published 4993 publications receiving 143226 citations.

Hitomi Constraints on the 3.5 keV Line in the Perseus Galaxy Cluster

Abstract: High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with Hitomi was expected to resolve the origin of the faint unidentified $E\approx 3.5\,\mathrm{keV}$ emission line reported in several low-resolution studies of various massive systems, such as galaxies and clusters, including the Perseus cluster. We have analyzed the Hitomi first-light observation of the Perseus cluster. The emission line expected for Perseus based on the XMM-Newton signal from the large cluster sample under the dark matter decay scenario is too faint to be detectable in the Hitomi data. However, the previously reported 3.5 keV flux from Perseus was anomalously high compared to the sample-based prediction. We find no unidentified line at the reported high flux level. Taking into account the XMM measurement uncertainties for this region, the inconsistency with Hitomi is at a 99% significance for a broad dark matter line and at 99.7% for a narrow line from the gas. We do not find anomalously high fluxes of the nearby faint K line or the Ar satellite line that were proposed as explanations for the earlier 3.5 keV detections. We do find a hint of a broad excess near the energies of high-n transitions of S xvi ($E\simeq 3.44\,\mathrm{keV}$ rest-frame)—a possible signature of charge exchange in the molecular nebula and another proposed explanation for the unidentified line. While its energy is consistent with XMM pn detections, it is unlikely to explain the MOS signal. A confirmation of this interesting feature has to wait for a more sensitive observation with a future calorimeter experiment.

Vizing's conjecture: a survey and recent results

Abstract: Vizing's conjecture from 1968 asserts that the domination number of the Cartesian product of two graphs is at least as large as the product of their domination numbers. In this paper we survey the approaches to this central conjecture from domination theory and give some new results along the way. For instance, several new properties of a minimal counterexample to the conjecture are obtained and a lower bound for the domination number is proved for products of claw-free graphs with arbitrary graphs. Open problems, questions and related conjectures are discussed throughout the paper. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 69: 46–76, 2012

A putative new endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Pantoea sp. from sugarcane.

Abstract: Aims: To isolate and identify endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in sugarcane growing in Cuba without chemical fertilizers. Methods and Results: Two N2-fixing isolates, 9C and T2, were obtained from surface-sterilized stems and roots, respectively, of sugarcane variety ML3-18. Both isolates showed acetylene reduction and H2 production in nitrogen-free media. Nitrogenase activity measured by H2 production was about 15 times higher for isolate 9C than for T2 or for Gluconoacetobacter diazotrophicus (PAL-5 standard strain, ATCC 49037). The nifH gene segment was amplified from both isolates using specific primers. Classification of both T2 and 9C was made on the basis of morphological, biochemical, PCR tests and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Conclusions: Isolate 9C was identified as a Pantoea species from its 16S rDNA, but showed considerable differences in physiological properties from previously reported species of this genus. For example, 9C can be cultured over a wide range of temperature, pH and salt concentration, and showed high H2 production (up to 67·7 nmol H2 h−1 1010 cell−1). Isolate T2 was a strain of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus. Significance and Impact of the Study: A new N2-fixing endophyte, i.e. Pantoea, able to produce H2 and to grow in a wide range of conditions, was isolated from sugarcane stem tissue and characterized. The strain with these attributes may well be valuable for agriculture.

Self-Reported Counterproductive Behaviors and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Separate but Related Constructs

Abstract: The construct validity of self-reported counterproductive work behaviors (CPBs) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) was explored by separating item content from item wording, through the confirmatory factor analysis of three scales: a CPB scale containing only negatively worded items, an OCB scale with only positively worded items, and the supervision subscale of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) (Smith, Kendall and Hulin 1969) comprised of both negatively and positively worded items. Results (N = 475) suggest that self-report measures of CPBs and OCBs are affected by method variance, but that the presence of such an influence does not compromise the substantive interpretation of these scales. Consequently, these scales do appear to be unique constructs.